Trust in Oneself, Draft 1, CH 27 (Patreon)

Paul didn’t have to search to see. From the top of the tree he climbed, the blue light was visible by the shore of the lake, too far for him to make out details, but people were stepping out of it.

He hurried down and joined in the running around as they prepared their assault.

“It is not wise for you to take part, Grant,” the seal told the Kangaroo, making his name sound like a title. “We are needed for the reforging.”

“I can’t do that until we know where that’s going to be, and unless you’ve thought of something, that means we have to weight on Donal for figure that out. I’m not standing here doing nothing until then.”

Her reply was lost as Paul stepped further, heading for his men.

“Keep your head against my check,” Chima told the squirrel in his arms. “At the speed run, whiplash is a real problem for anyone I carry.”

“I got it the previous three times, you told me,” Donal replied. “I have a talisman that should deal wiht most of the inertia, and I will keep my hear against though strong pecs of yours.” The squirrel did that, and they would gone, leaving behind leaves caught in the wake.

“And I’m telling you, we need more people,” the buffalo told the raccoon.

“And where are you going to get those people? You Royal pain in the ass have suddenly discovered how to shit those? Our two teleporters can’t get them and be back before this is going to be over, or did you forget they’re going to need to recharge before they came come back?”

“Listen hwere,. You Weak Ass—”

“That’s enough,” Paul snapped. “I swear, I’ve had grad students who didn’t bicker as much as you two, and If one of you even thinks of saying “he started it” I am going to fucking ground both of you for the next year.”

The two trained security officer looked at one another, then Paul and said in unison. “Yes, sir.”

“We’re doing what those who have some idea of what we’re going to face decide. And Raoul is right. Thomas and Firmin can’t head back for reinforcement. This isn’t ideal, but it’s what we have to deal with. So we’re dealing with it.”

“Listen up People!” Grand yelled. “I don’t care what or who’re still doing, drop it! We need to move now, before the Chamber gets anymore people on that beach, and before they pinpoint us. We still have the element of surprise, so we’re going to make use of it. Thomas, you and Firmin are the fastest we have, get there and disrupt things. If you find those performing the ritual powering that thing, disrupt them anyway you can. Yating, Yahui, you two go after them since you don’t have to worry about anything in the way, but one there, attack at a distance and from cover. They are going to have some staves and there’s no way to know what they’ll do before they use them on you. Don’t make yourselves targets. Everyone else, start moving. The longer we take to reach that portal, the harder it’s going to be to take it down.”

“You heard the man,” Raoul yelled. “Move it!”

Paul ran after the raccoon, checking that his gun was active and unlocked, with his men in tow.

* * * * *

The mishaps of running in the dark with nothing more than a flashlight for illumination were surprisingly low. Paul tripped twice, but barely staggered before regaining his footing and was running again.

He caught sight of Wuhan in the moving lights, and the red panda moved as if the trees weren’t there, ducking and weaving around them as if she knew the layout of the terrain.

When they reached the beach, it was already in chaos, men and women looking around for targets to fire on. Behind them, the portal was the cat like pupil in the center of blue lightning, but it showed daylight and more people walked through.

An exploding fireball told them the kind of staff at least one of them had, but most of those Paul say were armed with machine guns that were being pointed in their direction.

A wall of ice formed as Paul ducked and ran to the side, then it cracked under the gunfire. When Paul cleared it, his was returning fire, heading for an SUV to give him cover. On the other side of the ice barricade a wall of sand met one of water and exploded up.

The thought of all that mud in someone’s fur being a bitch to clean popped in his head, and was immediately shoved away by the woman tackling him. He rolled, kicking her off him, then was on his feet, ducking under her punch. He raised his gun and she kicked it out of his hand.

“You bitch!” He yelled as swang. She caught his arm with a smirk, and pulled him off balance. Paul moved with the pull, then turned and planted his elbow in her side. He moved as she kept trying to hit him in something that was more like how Arnold had fought than Aaron, but as she moved, Paul found himself understanding what she was going for and how she was doing it.

He dodged the punch, then grabbed her arm and punch the armpit as hard as he could. She kicked him, and when he rolled to his feet her left arm hung at her side. She snarled at him, then the side of her head exploded.

“You okay, boss?” The wolf asked, and Paul buried the flash of angry at his opponent being taken down by someone else.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Behind them, Wuhan moved among the Chamber, and Paul couldn’t look away. The way she fought, the way she used her staff as a weapon and something to propel herself toward her enemies it just didn’t … it couldn’t make sense.

Some part of him said those were martial art moves, as with a swipe of the staff, she sent the dozen people around her flying and in the same motion planted the staff down and flew up toward another group, somersaulting, then landing, kicking and punching and more people flew away.

They had to be martial art moves, but why couldn’t he make sense of it.

“Boss?” the wolf asked, sounding worried, just as Wuhan threw herself inthe air, away from the incoming fireball.

The pause in the fight let Paul look away. “We need to find Grant, he and Wassa have to be protected.”

“I don’t think those two exactly need anyone’s help.” He pointed to the shore, where water was moving like a giant whip, smashing into people.

Paul snatched the machine gun out of the wolf’s hands, put the butt to his shoulder and pressed the trigger gently. The ocelot who had been sneaking behind the seal dropped.

“Fuck,” the wolf exclaimed.

“How about we don’t get over confident?”

 He handed the machine gun back and ran toward the kangaroo and seal, picking up a rifle someone dropped on the way, then he ducked as a smoking rat appeared, flying through the air in his direction.

“Thomas!”

Paul forgot about Grant and Wassa and ran toward where his best friend had crashed, his speed making a furrow in the sand.

“Oh dear God.” He fought the bile down at the sight of the still bubbling skin on half the badger’s body. It wasn’t burned, it was… melting?

A hand pulled him away. “I know that’s rough, but we don’t have the time,” the wolf said.

Paul swallowed more bile and nodded.

Ahead fire was fighting ice, balls after ball of angry red hit the calm blue. Paul made it behind the wall, feeling the momentary inferno. Kuno had his eyes fixed on water Wassa was sending before him and it added to the wall of ice.

A rat appeared and had his hands on knees, panting, before Paul was hosting him in his arms. “Thomas, you’re okay.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“I have it!” Donal exclaimed, appearing in a cloud of sand as Chima stopped. The squirrel coughed out sand. “But you aren’t going to like it.” Chima put him sown and Donal wobbled for a second before steading.

“Where is it?” Grant asked, and Donal pointed at the lake.

Paul scanned it with the others.

“There’s nothing there, just water,” the kangaroo said.

“Yeah, it’s under it. About a hundred feet from the center southward. It feels like a cavern, and its at the end of it.”

“I am able to move water, but that is more water than I can maintain,” Wassa said.

“If someone can get the fire throwing bastard off me,” Kuno said, “I can help with that.”

“On it,” Yating and Yahui said in unison, before running through the wall of ice before anyone could stop them.

“Hate to add to the problems,” Thomas said, “but there’s no one on this side power the portal. I was able to pop in front of it in a lull between incoming, and there’s something on the other side. I couldn’t stay long enough, to get details, but if I can get infront again, I think that’s going to count as line of sight and I can pop on the toehr and disrupt—”

“I’ve got this,” Chima said, then was gone, a wall of sand falling to the ground in his wake.

“Doesn’t anyone wait to at least get help, anymore?” Grant complained.

“When have you ever known kids to wait for help?” Donal demanded.

“Hey, old man,” Thomas replied. “Some respect for the younger generation here.”

“Fuck me, kid.” The squirrel smirked.

“Oh, when this is over, you aren’t—”

“Can we focus?” the kangaroo demanded. “Sort of life or death here. Even if Chima closes the portal, that leaves a lot of them on our side, I counted seven staff wielders, with the most physically powerful staves I’ve ever encountered. We need to—”

“You need to get down there and remake that sword,” Thomas said. “We’ll deal with everyone here. You go do the world saving shit.”

“Thomas,” Grant said, exasperated. “This isn’t—”

“We need to move,” Kuno said, stepping away from the wall of ice. “I don’t know how long the twins will keep that fire guy busy, but not one of us wants to be here when they start blasting that wall with me and Wassa to maintain it.”

“The children speak reason, Grant,” the seal said. “This is greater than anyone of them.”

“Fuck,” the kangaroo stomped the sand with a foot. “I did not sign up to get them killed.”

“Hey, how about you show some trust?” a suddenly grown Roland said. “We might not all be big shots, but we didn’t come here thinking we were going to summer camp. You have your job, we have ours.” He made shooing motions. “Get to it.”

“This isn’t—” the portal’s light flickered, failed, came back, failed again.

The beach became silent and Paul looked around expectantly.

“I think he’s stuck on the other side,” Roland said in a hushed tone.

“If he survived,” The wolf at Paul’s side said.

“Don’t even think that,” Thomas said. “He’s Chima, he isn’t just fast, he’s… you have no idea.”

“Grant,” Kuno said, “I know this sucks, but we have to move now, while they are realizing they don’t have a way out anymore.”

“Fine,” The kangaroo snapped. “Donal, you’re with us.”

“I think…”

“Oh, don’t even pretend you want to be out here when the fighting starts up, and I need you to guide us to where I have to be and hope I’m going to actually be able to make this happen.”

“We need to find as manay of the others,” Paul told his companion and take down anyone we can, with or without a staff. He didn’t wait for comments. Kuno was right, they had minutes, if even that, to take advantage of the confusion. He didn’t have the combat experience the Margay did, but he expected that with no way out, in case things went bad for them, they were going to fight even harder to make sure they won.

He fired at the first Chamber who turned in their direction. He didn’t want for a guy to be raised, a word to be uttered. He knew them to be capable of killing without remorse, and he wasn’t taking the chance someone at his side would die due to his inaction.

That snapped the Chamber out of their stunned state, but it also signaled to his allies where he was. By the time he reached the red panda holding the body of his twin, gunshots were regular.

“Yat?” Paul asked, and the panda shook his head. “Yahui, we need to move. There’s a lot more of them than there are of us.”

“I’ve never been alone.”

Paul placed a hand on his shoulder. “You aren’t alone, Yahui, we’re still here.”

“Won’t be for long,” the wolf said, his firing coming faster, “if we stay here.”

“Not helping.”

“Sorry, boss, but I’m way more interested in keeping us alive then in soothing-Oh shit!” The wolf draped himself over Paul, then a torrent of sand was over them, sand blasting everything smooth, except them.

Surprised, Paul raised his hand and watched as sand passed through it. He looked at Yahui. Neither pandas had ever been able to phase someone with them as far as Paul knew. He looked at Yahui, he was looking in the direction the blast came from, angrily.

When the sand storm stopped, a woman holding a [needs something sand and wind related, idally] was staring at them.

“How are we still alive?” the wolf asked.

“Magic,” Paul answered, as Yahui stood. “Yahui.” He tried to grab him, as the panda stepped toward the woman, but his hand passed through him. With a curse he followed, firing at Chamber who were also realizing the storm hadn’t killed them.

Paul was changing magazine when Yahui caught up to the woman, who was blasthing him with poor excuses to sand blast after what they’d just survived. They went through the panda, as did the bullets.

Yahui’s body hid his punch from Paul’s view, but when he pull his arm back, the hand was bloody, and Paul was certain he was holding something in it. He decided not to think on what that could be, fired as people were deciding the panda was a waste of time.

“Boss, we need to—”

Thomas grabbed them.

“—go.”

“Before you say anything,” the rat said, “we need to keep them from the lake.”

They were behind a line of pickups and SUVs turned on their sides. The lake was at their back, the Chamber on the other side of barricade.

“Kuno had to leave an opening for both air and their way out since there’s no way to know what Grant’s going to be like once he’s done.”

“We need to keep them from going in,” Paul said.

“I don’t know if anyone noticed,” the wolf said, “but that’s a fucking big lake. They couldget in from any where.”

“Which is while John here pulled this together,” Roland said. “He’s telekinetic.” The Basset hound nodded at them. “It’s big and we’re behind it shooting at them, so it’s going to be the thing they want, right?”

The wolf shooks his head. “You know what. I’ve been around magic folks too much, because that reasoning doesn’t sound absolutely bat shit to me right now.” He turned and found an opening to put his machine gun through. “That still a fuck load of bad guys,” he muttered. “And I don’t have a lot of ammo left.”

“That’s my job,” Thomas said, then vanished.

Paul found a place to position the rifle where he could still use the sight and lined up his first shot.

* * * * *

The morning light was at their back as it shone over the mountains. Paul fired again and another Chamber fell. They had been managing their firing for the last hour as they ran out of bullets. They wanted to maintain the impression they could keep this going indefinitely. Thomas had returned from his last search for more with a blood covered Yahui.

He fired again.

The panda had sought out the staff holders, taking them down one by one. This meant they only had to deal with only guns for weapons, and maybe the occasional talisman. Wuhan was out of commission, either due to exhaustion of some magical attack. Thomas the expert on Practitioner and staff magic from his time with Grant, but that only meant he was confident she’d get better at some point.

Possibly not in time though.

The Chamber had smartened up at some point, and weren’t standing in to open anymore. They had no mobile cover, but there were a few structures they had the time to set up. Enough, in Paul estimation, to hide a hundred people.

Against one teleporter, a telekinetic who could only affect one item at a time, a panda how was too out of itto phase, Roland, who other than shrinking had martial art training and a body that could tackle a wall down, and four shooters just about out of bullets.

“This,” Paul muttered, firing at another of the Chamber attempting to make a run for the barricade, “would be when the cavalry shows up in the movies.”

He reached for another magazine and touched only sand.

Then clouds covered the rising sun, too fast to be natural. Thunder rolled.

“I think Yahui missed one,” Roland said as the light vanished and thunder rumbled in the distance.

Paul looked at Thomas.

“We’re not running,” the rat replied.

Paul nodded, watching the cloud roll over the lake turning the morning back into night.

“They don’t seem to know what’s going on,” someone said.

Then lighting spider webbed through the clouds.

“Shit,” the wolf whispered, “that can’t be natural.”

The lighting moved all over the place thought the clouds, illuminating shaped that, if Paul wanted to give himself nightmare for the rest of his life, looked like monsters, moving toward them along with the clouds.

“Tom,” Roland said, his voice shaking.

The lightning vanished.

“Thomas,” Roland said, and the rest of his words were wiped from existence but the thunder that accompanied the lightning bolt the size of the empire state building that hit the center of the lake.

Paul blink to clear the spots and he though he someone said something, but his ears rang.

Light returning with the clearing of his sight in time to see the wall of mist rushing at them.

He didn’t even have the time to think the curse.